Clarity
by Liz Night
Summary: Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi seals the Sith and the Force away so that the Jedi will not be killed. Hundreds of years later, Anakin Skywalker, his soulmate, finds his Force-preserved body and meets his closest match. Inspired by the myth of Pandora's Box, rather than a direct retelling.


Playlist for this one:

1\. Icarus- Bastille

2\. Clarity- Sam Tsui and Kurt Schneider

3\. This is Gospel- Panic! At the Disco

Happy reading!

Clarity

Obikin Week Day Two: Soulmates AU/Mythology AU

* * *

His master was dead and the Sith Lord before him told him that he would be next.

Obi-Wan grasped for his lightsaber, fingertips mere inches away.

A master engaged the leading Darksider, but was quickly thrown aside. Another took their place, lasting only a short time longer.

Behind the Sith Lord were others waiting for their own chances to cut the Jedi down.

There was a cry behind him and he looked back to see a terrified young knight blocking younglings with her own body.

Obi-Wan's heart filled with despair and he slammed his eyes shut. 'Please,' he begged the force. 'Please let there be some way to save the younglings at least.'

Everything went quiet around him, the sounds of battle becoming distant.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes. A cloaked figure stood before him.

"There is a way to save them," it whispered, its voice strange and echoing. "There is a vault beneath the temple, an ancient seal. You could lock them inside for the rest of time."

"Yes," Obi-Wan cried. "Please, just no more death."

"There is a price," it said, almost gently. "A high one."

Obi-Wan looked at the being. "What is it?"

"Your life," it whispered. "The sacrifice to close the seal is willingly giving one's self to be sealed as well."

"Yes," he agreed. "I'm a padawan of the Jedi Order. I will gladly give myself to save my people."

"And the Force."

Obi-Wan gaped up. "What?" he whispered, voice cracking.

"No being will be able to access the Force. It will be locked away with the Sith and yourself."

Obi-Wan looked down at his hand, at the sparks of black and white within his skin. The unborn soulmate they represented. To leave them without the comfort the Force would give them after he no doubt died. But to protect them with his death? Would it be worth it?

"Knowing all, what is your decision, Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"Yes."

* * *

Anakin watched the burst of color beneath his skin.

His mother had told him fairy tales back on Tatooine of a magical Force and how it had guided soulmates to each other and blessed the galaxy.

But now that he was a Jedi, even if only a padawan, he knew the truth. There was no more Force. The galaxy had broken after a battle had devastated the Jedi who kept it balanced.

"Padawan Skywalker, to what do I owe the rare pleasure of your company?" Healer Che asked as she entered the room.

Anakin grinned sheepishly. "Master Qui Gon threatened to have me grounded if I didn't show up."

Che nodded approvingly. "About time."

He let her scan him and did as she asked. She looked down at her display and nodded.

"Okay, Padawan Skywalker. You're cleared for another year. Don't make me hunt you down next time," she said before walking away.

Anakin slid off of the exam bed and started to leave the Halls of Healing. He stopped at the sight of a door that he'd never noticed before.

"Healer Che?" he whispered, his heart beating fast. The Twi'lek had already moved far enough away that she didn't hear him.

He stepped closer to the door, placing tingling fingertips on the knob. He turned it and went inside, closing the door behind him.

A young man lay on the lone bed. His red hair dark against the white pillow. His eyes were closed, no movement beneath the lids.

He wasn't breathing.

But his hands were as colorful as Anakin's own, not the blank canvas of the dead.

Anakin stared at him, knowing that he was somehow familiar. He found himself at the man's side, fingers reaching for the other's.

"Anakin, what are you doing in-"

The padawan turned, eyes wide, to his master. "Qui-Gon, how?"

Multi-colored bursts flowered around them.

* * *

"Found your soulmate, Master Qui-Gon tells me you have," Yoda said, slowly walking towards the younger man in the garden.

Anakin looked up and then back at the pool in front of him. "I don't understand. I've heard the story and never thought that it could actually be true. He's, what, a thousand years old?"

"A few years shy of nine hundred, he is," Yoda answered, sitting down beside him.

Anakin choked.

"A youngling I was when the Sith came," Yoda continued. "Fought for us, Padawan Kenobi did.. Died to protect us, he did."

"I heard...Someone told me that the Force went with him."

"Still around us the Force is. Just out of reach."

Anakin nodded and looked at the pool, tossing a pebble. "Why me? He's a legend and…"

"He sleeps," Yoda answered. "Only twenty years have his sparks been active. The reason we found you it is."

"Did you know?" he asked.

Yoda hummed. "Suspected, I did. Sure I could not be, though."

"What do I do?"

"Enjoy the dreams. Take comfort in knowing he exists."

* * *

Anakin opened his eyes and sat up. He was in the garden. A man sat beside a pool, his back to him.

"Kenobi," he whispered.

The man spun, eyes wide. "If you're here, then…"

"I'm your soulmate," Anakin finished for him.

"But I'm dead."

Anakin shrugged. "Not out there. The masters believe that the Force kept your body preserved."

Kenobi flopped onto his back. "I'm alive," he mused. "And I've got a soulmate. What's your name?"

"Anakin Skywalker," he answered. "I'm a padawan at the temple."

Kenobi smiled and sat up, coming closer. "They lived? The Jedi survived?"

Anakin nodded. "We don't have the Force, but we follow the traditions. One of the younglings that you saved, he leads the order still."

Kenobi frowned. "Still? How long has it been?"

Anakin looked down. "He told me it's been a little over eight hundred and fifty years."

Kenobi looked up. "So long. Almost everyone I know is dead."

Not knowing what to do, Anakin took his hand, holding it tight. "Kenobi?"

"It's Obi-Wan. Call me Obi-Wan."

"Obi-Wan," Anakin said, tasting the name on his lips. "I know it may not be a comfort, but when they realized that your body was still alive, they made sure that you would be cared for."

Obi-Wan sat silently, looking at the pool before them. "There is no death, there is the Force."

Anakin smiled at him wryly. The other man smiled back. Anakin stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. He blinked as his head began tingling.

"I think… I'm about to wake up," he said softly. "But I have so much more that I want to talk with you about."

Obi-Wan covered their hands with his other. "I'll be here when you come back."

"Obi-Wan," he said, mind beginning to swim. "I'm happy that it was you."

* * *

Anakin opened his eyes to the ceiling of his room. He sighed. He really would have enjoyed talking with Obi-Wan more.

"How is he?"

Anakin turned to Qui-Gon, who was sitting in a chair beside his bed. "I think… He's sad. He didn't seem to realize how much time had passed."

Qui-Gon nodded.

"But he's relieved that it worked. That the Jedi are still around," Anakin said, sitting up. "Master, were you there all night?"

Qui-Gon laughed fondly. "Forgive an old man for watching over a young friend as he meets his soulmate for the first time."

"Master, will Obi-Wan ever wake up?"

Qui-Gon sighed and crossed his arms. "When Master Yoda became a knight, he led research groups, attempting to learn about the Vault. It's one of the oldest parts of the temple, possibly predating the Sith when they controlled the area first. We've gathered that things can be locked inside indefinitely. That it may be tied to the Force in ways that we haven't even begun to understand. And that it takes a price to use."

Anakin looked down at his hands, considering all he'd just learned. "Could I see it?"

"I'm...not sure that is wise," Qui-Gon admitted. "Shut off from the Force as we are, there are still places where the Dark Side was so prevalent that a sense of shadow lingers. The Vault is like that."

Anakin nodded. "Can I go see him?"

Qui-Gon smiled, relieved. He knew how stubborn his padawan could be. "Master Yoda and Healer Che have given you permission to visit whenever you like."

"Really?"

"Yes, Anakin," he replied, "he is your soulmate."

"Thank you, Master."

Qui-Gon stood and ruffled Anakin's hair before he left.

Anakin flopped back and looked at his hands. Among the showers of other colors, gold flashed now and then. Obi-Wan Kenobi. He covered his face, the corners of his smile peeking out from under his hands.

He rolled out of the bed and quickly dressed. The walk down to the Halls seemed quicker than normal.

In his quiet corner of the Hall, all was quiet around Obi-Wan. It was peaceful in a way that Anakin had never felt before. He brushed a hand over the other man's hair, still cut so much like his own.

"I want to see you," he whispered. "I want to touch your face and have you look back at me."

There was no response from the man on the bed.

* * *

"Are you aware of the Sith?"

Obi-Wan looked back at Anakin and smiled. "In the Vault, you mean?"

Anakin nodded.

Obi-Wan looked up. "Yes? I believe that we're all asleep in a way down in the Vault. Otherwise, how would I be here? I can feel them, hear their whispers sometimes, but that's the extent."

"Do they know that you're there?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

Their hands found each other's.

* * *

Anakin began walking the temple when he wasn't needed or with Obi-Wan. He found many rooms and corridors that had seemed to have been forgotten. But never the Vault.

Night after night, he met with Obi-Wan, quickly falling in love with his soulmate. As his love grew, so did his despair for the other man. Anakin would grow old and eventually leave him, eternally young, asleep, and all alone.

Qui-Gon began to worry for his young padawan and, together with Yoda, he renewed efforts to discover a way to wake the sleeping Jedi.

* * *

"Obi-Wan!"

Anakin opened his eyes to an unfamiliar room. A door stood before him, great and imposing. His breath caught in his throat and he stepped closer.

"Anakin, stop!"

He turned, just as Obi-Wan's arms fell around him and pulled him away from the door.

"You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."

"That's the Vault, isn't it?" Anakin whispered. "You're in there."

"Yes," Obi-Wan said, pulling him through the halls. "But there are hordes of Sith in there as well and I cannot lose you to them."

"Obi-Wan," Anakin said.

The man stopped and turned back. He touched the other's face, his expression tender, yet sad. "Anakin," he said softly. "I know you want to free me, but it's better this way."

Anakin caught his hand in his. "How? I can only see you when I'm asleep. And when I'm gone, you'll be-"

He shut his eyes and his mouth, not wanting to see Obi-Wan's reaction. But he felt arms wrap around him and a chin rest on his bent head.

"I was alone for the hundreds of years before you. When you are gone," Obi-Wan said, voice cracking. "I'll be at peace with your memory."

Anakin sobbed, tightening his own arms around his soulmate. "I can't. I can't. I can't."

Obi-Wan drew back, wiping tears off of the man's face. "You have to, Anakin. I'm not coming back."

"But if there was a way-"

"There isn't," he said gently. "It's been over eight hundred years. I can't hope for escape anymore. I chose to protect the order, to protect you."

Anakin buried his face in the other's shoulder.

"I never dared to hope that I'd meet you. I will treasure every moment I have with you."

"But I don't want to leave you," Anakin whispered.

* * *

Anakin stared at the ceiling. It was still dark in the room.

Obi-Wan had lost all of his hope and was asking him to give up his. Could he really do it, even if it's what Obi-Wan wanted?"

He turned his head to his nightstand and the only picture he owned. It was Anakin as a child with his mother. The same one who'd raised him and begged Qui-Gon to take him back with him when he left Tatooine. The same strong woman that had told him through both their tears to go with the Jedi.

He rolled out of his bed and dressed quietly, doing his best not to wake his master. He crept out the door and put his shoes on down the hall before setting off again.

Anakin walked further and further, deeper into the temple than he'd ever gone before. The air around him chilled and became heavy. His breath fogged before him. Then the door rose before him.

The Vault was smaller than he expected, but somehow more imposing. Anakin stared up, his heart in his throat. He breathed in deeply and walked close enough to touch it.

The door was warm. That thought chilled Anakin more than he was comfortable with. He bit his lip, drawing his hand back. He turned, ready to forget what he'd almost done.

"Anakin."

He froze.

"Help me, Anakin."

Slowly, he turned back, staring at the door. "Obi-Wan?" he whispered.

"They're hurting me," the voice came again.

Anakin's hands fell on the handle and he pulled the door open easily.

With screams and laughter, a dark cloud rushed out, knocking Anakin off of his feet. His head bounced off of the stone that made the floors this far down below the temple. The world spun around him and fear clogged his throat before the cloud streamed down the corridor.

He sat up, gasping and looked back at the Vault. Smoke drifted through the open door.

Anakin forced himself to his feet and stumbled to the door. He put his weight behind it and strained, pushing it closed inch by inch. The lock finally caught and he slumped against the cooling door, trying to catch his breath.

"Anakin."

He shuddered and covered his ears.

"Anakin, I'm still here," it softly whispered.

"No," Anakin moaned. "Please, I know that I made a mistake, but please don't use his voice."

"I'll treasure our every moment."

He looked across the room. "Is it really you, Obi-Wan?"

"Yes," it sighed.

Shakily, the man stood and put his hand back on the handle. He shut his eyes and twisted.

At first, it felt like the Obi-Wan he'd come to know the presence of in his dreams. And then he was gone.

Anakin fell to his knees, opening his eyes finally. The room before him was empty. A sob caught in his throat as he slid to lie on the ground, arms curling around himself. Tears poured down his face and he screamed in agony.

"You've released the Sith, young Jedi."

Anakin stared up at the cloaked figure above him. "I'm sorry," he whispered, voice cracked and broken.

"You can lock them away again," it whispered. "You know the price."

Anakin sat up, words forming on his lips.

"No, he won't."

Anakin spun so quickly that he nearly hit his head on the door beside him.

Obi-Wan stood there, pale and a little frail looking, but alive and awake.

There was a wisp of a giggle behind him and the figure disappeared.

"Anakin, are you okay?" Obi-Wan asked, dropping to his knees beside him. A hand raised to the back of his head. "You're bleeding."

"You're here," Anakin said. "I thought that it was a trick after-"

"I woke up in the Halls. I possibly scared a few healers half to death, but I had to get back down here to you," he replied. "Oh, Anakin, you stupid, sweet boy."

"I'm sorry," Anakin said. "I'm so sorry."

"Hush," Obi-Wan said. "Anakin, reach out. What do you feel?"

Frowning up at the other man, he did as he was told and gasped. "Is that?"

"The Force and all of the Jedi around us? Yes."

Anakin stared up at him in awe.

With an indulgent look, Obi-Wan brushed his hand against his soulmate's cheek. "There's more Jedi here than I've ever felt before. We outnumber the Sith by the thousands. We might… We could have peace again soon."

"This is the Force?" Anakin asked again.

Obi-Wan nodded with a quiet chuckle.

"And between us?"

"Is a bond," Obi-Wan finished.

Anakin grinned up at him. "My soulmate."

Obi-Wan laughed, wrapping his arms around him. "Let's get you to the Halls," he said. "I want to hold you for the rest of the night once we get your head looked at."

"But it's nearly day."

"They can forgive an old man some time lag," he replied. "I want my soulmate all to myself for just a little while.


End file.
